TMC is an independent, primarily volunteer organization that relies on ad revenue to cover its operating costs. Please consider whitelisting TMC on your ad blocker and becoming a Supporting Member. For more info: Support TMC

I was skeptical of some of the problems and figured that they were rare, isolated cases. (No, I haven't watched Gasland or the sequel - got my info from reading articles).

But now, the more I read, the more common these problems seem to be. The older these wells get, the higher the percetage of failures become. I have no problems with the principles of fracking - but we NEED to be able to do it SAFELY and RELIABLY.

I suspect this movie will be good for showing the Ayn Rand lovers how an unfettered free market will NOT regulate itself. Whether they listen or not... That's another story.

I was skeptical of some of the problems and figured that they were rare, isolated cases. (No, I haven't watched Gasland or the sequel - got my info from reading articles).

But now, the more I read, the more common these problems seem to be. The older these wells get, the higher the percetage of failures become. I have no problems with the principles of fracking - but we NEED to be able to do it SAFELY and RELIABLY.

I suspect this movie will be good for showing the Ayn Rand lovers how an unfettered free market will NOT regulate itself. Whether they listen or not... That's another story.

Click to expand...

Thats just it, its happening everywhere and from the doc you see that the companies still have no idea how to do it safely.....we are a greedy society.

From the doc -1 out of 20 rigs fail automatically. If you have a 100, 000 rigs, like in some places, think how much environmental damage its causing.

I was skeptical of some of the problems and figured that they were rare, isolated cases. (No, I haven't watched Gasland or the sequel - got my info from reading articles).

But now, the more I read, the more common these problems seem to be. The older these wells get, the higher the percetage of failures become. I have no problems with the principles of fracking - but we NEED to be able to do it SAFELY and RELIABLY.

I suspect this movie will be good for showing the Ayn Rand lovers how an unfettered free market will NOT regulate itself. Whether they listen or not... That's another story.

Click to expand...

The problem with doing it safely and reliably is that it drives the cost up which people don't like either. They want cheap energy and are willing to overlook how it is obtained (for now at least).

The problem with doing it safely and reliably is that it drives the cost up which people don't like either. They want cheap energy and are willing to overlook how it is obtained (for now at least).

Click to expand...

It's the usual problem of externalities, or "the tragedy of the commons", or something like that. The profit/benefits go to a much smaller group than the ones who have to bear the total cost, in this case cleanup or living with the pollution.

The thing that worries me most about fracking is that it isn't clear to me that there even exists any way to do it safely. After all, they're intentionally changing the geology on a massive scale. What are they going to do, pour concrete around the shale?

Personally, I'm more concerned with the disposal of contaminated waste water at the surface, and methane leaks into the atmosphere at the surface, than I am about what happens deep underground.

Click to expand...

One of the lessons Australia has had to learn (and be retaught...) is that aquifers do matter. I'm not trying to minimize what you are saying, but what if hundreds of square miles of forest hundreds of miles away suddenly die?

This article relates to what was said in the doc about how it doesn't matter how much supply we are finding because it is being exported and now we will have rising gas prices due to being on a more global price fix.

Remember that there's gas=natural gas and then there's gas=gasoline. Pre-fracking, these were closely linked. Not these days. At present, North America has very limited means to export natural gas, which is why there is nearly a 5x price gap in the US vs. Japan. Unsurprisingly, The natural gas industry is scrambling to design, permit, and construct natural gas export facilities, but these are multi-billion dollar facilities.

I finally broke down and for the first time ever in my life actually paid for a movie on demand at home. Used my AppleTV. The movie I picked for this auspicious occasion? GASLAND II. I got tired of waiting and hoping for a local theatrical screening. I have a 12-ft projection screen at home, figured it was time to give it a shot.

Wow. Just, wow.

The assault, no other word for it, the sustained, organized, battle-hardened, determined, and deliberate ASSAULT on land, water, air, and essentially all life on Earth by these companies is breathtaking. If a citizen went and polluted someone's water well, or worse, all the wells in a large geographical area -- destroying acquifers, basically -- they would be hauled in and you can bet they would be charged with tons of crimes, including terrorism. If a corporation, with armies of lobbyists and bribed politicians, poisons the water, destroys an acquifer, it's freedom and patriotism.

I finally broke down and for the first time ever in my life actually paid for a movie on demand at home. Used my AppleTV. The movie I picked for this auspicious occasion? GASLAND II. I got tired of waiting and hoping for a local theatrical screening. I have a 12-ft projection screen at home, figured it was time to give it a shot.

Wow. Just, wow.

The assault, no other word for it, the sustained, organized, battle-hardened, determined, and deliberate ASSAULT on land, water, air, and essentially all life on Earth by these companies is breathtaking. If a citizen went and polluted someone's water well, or worse, all the wells in a large geographical area -- destroying acquifers, basically -- they would be hauled in and you can bet they would be charged with tons of crimes, including terrorism. If a corporation, with armies of lobbyists and bribed politicians, poisons the water, destroys an acquifer, it's freedom and patriotism.

But it isn't. We all know what it really is.

Click to expand...

Good! I'm glad you finally watched it. I was blow away when I saw it and makes me angry and sad that we as a human race continue do these type of things to the planet we live on when we now have the information to stop and switch to something better.

This is an article about how a small town near Ft. Worth, close to where I live, became environmentalists due to fracking. If a conservative, small Texas town rethinks it's position, you know it's bad.

Meta

Do you value your experience at TMC? Consider becoming a Supporting Member of Tesla Motors Club. As a thank you for your contribution, you'll get nearly no ads in the Community and Groups sections. Additional perks are available depending on the level of contribution. Please visit the Account Upgrades page for more details.